Golden Oldies.

Listen, I love Frank Miller. I love his badass Dark Knight version of Batman. I like Mike Grell and his brooding Green Arrow working in a seedy Seattle. I also like modern twists on old characters, like what they did with Sandman Mystery Theater.

I like all that stuff - comics can be grim and gritty and come across like a Tarantino movie and that's just fine.

All of that being said - Golden Age books are great. They can shine in all of their goofy glory. Fawcett produced some of the silliest, most family friendly stories on the market. If any hero could be accused of being milquetoast, it's the Big Red Cheese. Such cricism simply can't stick though, because the Marvel Family book are just so damned great.

Here is an example of a very inventive little story written by Otto Binder - one of the most unique talents ever to work in the funnybook business. Have a look at this stuff and think about how much creativity went into putting this one together. Today, many people might see it as simply being lame, but they are missing the whole point. There is more charm and creativity in these 10 pages, than you'll find in some entire series.

I believe there was a book published recently about Otto Binder. I'd be interested in picking that one up as the more I learn about the man, the more interested I become. I've never read any of his Adam Link stuff (my only exposure being the Joe Orlando strip in Creepy), but I saw one at a local used book store and I may go back and grab it.

I am not sure of the best way to post numerous pictures on a blog, but this is the best way I could think of for the time being. Enjoy and please share any comments that you might have.